Parsec
Platform: TI-99/4A
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action - Shooter - Vertical
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Players: 1
Programmer: Jim Dramis, Paul Urbanus
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Parsec is a side-scrolling space shooter. Waves of alien craft swoop down from the top and the player must shoot them down without colliding with them or the ground, running out of fuel, or overheating the ship's laser. Some enemies are harder to destroy and shoot back. At the end of each level, the player must navigate through an asteroid field which can yield many points, but can also result in a loss of ships in the process due to collisions.

The game takes advantage of the TI's speech synthesizer: a female voice occasionally makes comments such as "Nice shooting, pilot!", or "Asteroid field ahead" throughout the course of the game.

Trivia:

Matthew Doucette, a crazed Parsec fan, has his own page dedicated to the game called Rare Parsec Facts (The TI-99/4A Video Game). It's an incredible piece of work and definitely worth a visit if you are a fan of this great classic!

This is the most popular TI-99/4A cartridge out there, and definitely a "must play" for anyone that has a TI-99/4A console or emulator. Parsec can be found in almost everybody's collection and deservedly so, as many claim it to be their favorite TI video game. In fact, many people associate the TI-99/4A with Parsec because it's they game they can remember the most from their childhood!  

This was the first game to use bit map graphics on the TI-99/4A, which is one of the reasons for the big leap in graphics quality over many earlier games.

There are two different cartridge labels for Parsec, the earlier Purple label and the later Red label. Originally, TI was going to use Purple labels on video games and then ended up going with the Red label scheme for reasons unknown.  Only 3 titles are known to exist in both Red and Purple label variations: Parsec, Alpiner, and Othello (all of which were among the first titles to be released with colored labels).

Secret Alert! After the game says "Press Fire to Begin", crash one of your ships into the ground instead of firing. This will cause the first wave of enemies to appear and if you can blast through them without losing any lives there is a random chance of being warped to a further stage in the game. Note that the Warp Cheat does not work every time, so it may take a few tries before you manage to actually warp. This cheat was discussed over on rec.games.video.classic in a great story about someone's addiction to Parsec (in addition, the follow ups to the original thread also contain some neat stories!).
  
Secret Alert! Here's a little secret sent in to the Videogame House by Tim Flavin. If you hold down the fire buttons on both joysticks simultaneously your ship will never overheat. However, this can prove to be a little tricky if playing by yourself! Your best bet is to play Parsec with a friend where both you and your friend hold down the fire buttons on the joysticks.

Easter Egg Alert! On the scrolling ground of Parsec the initials JED and URB can be seen (see the second screen shot on this page). JED stands for programmer James E. Dramis, while URB is the nickname of Paul Urbanus who helped Jim Dramis program the game as a college intern at TI. 

Easter Egg Alert! The Urbite and Dramite enemy ships that you battle against in the game are named after the programmers Paul Urbanus and Jim Dramis. The Bynite ships, on the other hand, get their name from Don Bynum who was head of 99/4A development.  

http://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/parsec
